Date: April 20, 1962

During testing of the X-15 (a plane that could hit speeds up to six times the speed of sound), Armstrong overshot the landing field at Edwards Air Force base in California. He was able to turn around and managed to land on a lakebed near the base, barely missing some Joshua trees.  

Source: NASA

Date: May 21, 1962

While attempting to land at Delamar Dry Lake, one of the designated emergency landing sites for the X-15, the landing gear of Armstrong's F-104 Startfighter began to retract. Armstrong aborted the landing and made an emergency landing at Nellis Air Force Base. 

Source: NASA

Date: March 16, 1966

In 1966, Armstrong took his first flight into space as the command pilot of Gemini 8. The mission was supposed to last three days. But less than 30 minutes after docking with another vehicle and only six hours into the mission, the spacecraft went into an uncontrolled spin. After stabilizing the capsule, Armstrong was forced to make an emergency landing in the Pacific Ocean.  

Source: NASA

Date: May 6, 1968

One year before setting foot on the moon, Armstrong was nearly killed while test-driving the lunar landing research vehicle. He was able to jump out of the tumbling module mere seconds before it crashed to the ground and exploded in flames. 

Source: Air & Space Magazine

Date: July 20, 1969

With less than 30 seconds of fuel left, Armstrong had to override auto-pilot on the Apollo 11 lunar module to avoid a field of large boulders before landing in a safe spot.  

Source: The Economist 

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